(Kitco . News) – He went Under strong selling pressure, silver was slightly lower at midday on Wednesday in the US. Gold hit an 8.5 month low and silver a two year low today. Metal bulls continue to seek cover amid a stronger US dollar index that hit a 20-year high today, with crude oil prices down nearly $10 a barrel in just two trading days so far this week. The near-term technical charts for gold and silver are also completely bearish, causing chart-based traders to play the short sides of the futures markets. August gold futures prices are down $25.00 at $1,739.50. The prices of silver futures contracts for the month of September (September) decreased by 0.141 dollars to reach 18.98 dollars an ounce.
US stock indices are weaker in the middle of the day. Recession and inflation fears continue to dampen the risk appetite of traders and investors. Recession fears seem to be outweighing inflation fears for now, as evidenced by the major sell-off in several commodity futures markets on Tuesday, led by a significant drop in NYMEX crude oil futures. Metal traders are also focusing on consumer expectations and bearish trade demand in the event of a US and/or global recession.
Traders are waiting for the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest FOMC meeting this afternoon.
The US data point for this week is Friday’s Employment Situation Report for June. The number of headline non-farm payrolls is expected to increase by 250,000 compared to the 390,000 increase in the May report.
Today, the major overseas markets are seeing a sharp drop in NYMEX crude oil prices and are trading around $95.50 per barrel. The US Dollar Index rose strongly and reached its highest level in 20 years today. The 10-year US Treasury yield brings in 2.888%. The two-year and 10-year note sometime today is upside down (meaning the two-year yield was higher than the 10-year), which is further evidence that the US economy is teetering in a recession.
Technically, August gold futures prices hit an 8.5-month low today. Bears have a strong overall technical advantage in the near term and they have momentum. Prices have been in a downtrend for four months now on the daily bar chart. The next bullish price target for the bulls is to produce a close above the solid resistance at $1,800.00. The bears’ next bearish price target in the near term is pushing futures prices below the strong technical support level at $1,700.00. We notice the first resistance at $1,750.00 and then the day’s high at $1,771.50. First support appears at $1,725.00 and then at $1,700.00. Wyckoff Market Rating: 1.5.
![24 hour silver chart [ Kitco Inc. ]](https://news.google.com/images/live/silver.gif)
Silver futures prices for September today hit their lowest level in two years. Silver speculators have a strong overall technical advantage in the near term. The next bullish price target for the silver bulls is to close prices above strong technical resistance at the May low of $20,525 an ounce. The next target for the bears downtrend price is a price close below the strong support level at $18.00. We notice the first resistance at the day’s high at $19.325 and then at $19.85. Next support is seen at today’s low at $18.705 then $18.50. Wyckoff Market Rating: 1.0.
Copper in New York closed in July down 395 points at 338.55 cents today. Prices closed near the session low today and hit a 1.5-year low today. Copper bears have a strong overall technical advantage in the short term. There is a sharp downward trend in the price from 4 weeks ago on the daily bar chart. The next bullish price target for the copper bulls is pushing and closing prices above strong technical resistance at last week’s high of 384.30 cents. The next target for the bears downtrend price is to close prices below the strong technical support at 325.00 cents. We notice the first resistance at today’s high at 346.35 cents, then 350.00 cents. First support is seen at today’s low at 337.00 cents, then at 330.00 cents. Wyckoff Market Rating: 1.0.
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